-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Five years ago , telling a friend that you interact regularly with a verbose orange traffic cone might earn you a pitying hug and a quick trip to the sanatorium .

But these days , your friend might respond that they trade barbs with Rick Santorum 's sweater vest .

Welcome to the age of novelty Twitter accounts , where animals , inanimate objects and other nonhuman entities speak their mind regularly : A pigeon with a foul mouth and a fouler demeanor . San Francisco 's famous fog . Even the universe . On the social-media platform , users can express themselves creatively and get laughs by giving voice to those things that ca n't speak for themselves .

Novelty nonhuman accounts have been a Twitter staple since Sockington , a Boston-area housecat , joined the service in March 2007 on his way to 1.4 million followers . But they 've been in the news again recently after one user created @olympicseat , a tongue-in-cheek response to the curiously vacant seats at Olympic venues in London . In the span of a few days , it has amassed more than 21,000 followers .

Another Olympics-related feed celebrates the star-spangled towel that American gymnast Danell Leyva drapes over himself between events . It has more than 12,000 followers -- not bad , considering the average Twitter user has 126 .

Most of the people in this group of noteworthy Twitterers say their primary motivation for tweeting is to have fun . For others , it 's a chance to make their mark in the crowded world of the Web .

However , all agree that more thought goes into their 140-character musings than meets the eye .

Cat Food Breath

When the woman behind pet-centric account @CatFoodBreath began her novelty Twitter account in August 2010 , she was n't planning on sticking around .

`` I figured the best way to test the waters was with a pseudonym , '' said the Burlington , Vermont , resident who asked that her name not be published to preserve the anonymity of her Twitter persona . `` I would n't offend friends and colleagues if I did n't follow them , and I could make a polite exit from Twitter when I was done poking around . ''

Two years and almost 19,000 followers later , she is still at it . In the beginning , though , she and many other novelty account successes admit they did n't really know what `` it '' was .

`` At first , I did n't know this account was about a cat , -LSB- but -RSB- as I explored the Twitterverse , I soon realized I had a character that people related to , '' she said .

Real or not , Cat Food Breath is definitely a character . The cat -LRB- its gender is ambiguous -RRB- writes odes to the couch , gives its owner commands with Garfield-like acerbity and complains about the family dog -- lovingly called `` Labradum . ''

The San Francisco Fog

Other anonymous Twitter celebs began their accounts to educate and bring -LRB- hilarious -RRB- awareness to unappreciated things that ca n't speak for themselves , like the San Francisco fog that brings a chill to summers in that city .

`` I love everything about the fog , '' said the man who created @KarlTheFog in August 2010 . `` I think the way it sneaks over the hills is beautiful , mysterious and even a little romantic . I love how it stops at certain points above the city , creating a wall of clouds . And having moved here from a city where it was 100-plus degrees in the summer , I was mostly excited to not be dripping in sweat for three consecutive months . ''

The man , who also requested anonymity , was inspired by @BPGlobalPR , a popular parody response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico . Through the lens of `` Karl the Fog , '' he reports on the public 's feelings toward the fog and acts like a PR rep for the maligned form of weather -- with a witty bent . Karl already has more than 5,000 followers .

Giving `` Karl '' an identity has brought out emphatic and sometimes cursory responses -- especially when the fog blocked Fourth of July fireworks -- but the Twitterverse has been receptive overall , he said .

'' -LSB- I get -RSB- lots of weather puns and haikus . My favorite tweets are when people take pictures of Karl and post them on Twitter or Instagram , '' the man said . `` Seeing so many people pick up on it and tag Karl in their pictures has been overwhelmingly cool . ''

The Orange Cone

Like Karl the Fog , @TheOrangeCone loves it when followers interact with him online .

The Orange Cone was originally a MySpace account but came to Twitter after its creator discovered the witty tweets of Bronx Zoo 's Cobra , last year 's famously escaped snake , and motorsports satirist @nascarcasm . Today the Orange Cone keeps a following of more than 20,000 users up to date on NASCAR happenings .

And his followers respond in droves .

`` People notice cones in their everyday life and send pictures to me by the hundreds , '' said the man behind the Cone , who asked that his name not be used . `` I find that hilarious -- people stopping what they are doing in the real world to take a picture of an orange cone . I love it . ''

He added , `` Whenever the cone is hit during the course of a NASCAR race , my feed blows up . ''

When driver Kasey Kahne hit the cone during a February practice in Daytona , the Twitterverse came to Orange Cone 's aid .

`` Kasey made a Twitter apology and I added about 1,200 followers in the next hour , '' he said . `` It was insane . ''

Staying in character

For some , the prospect of interacting `` for real '' with followers is off the table .

`` I am a bit like Banksy . Nobody knows who I am , '' said the man behind the foul-tempered @PigeonJon bird character , referring to the anonymous Britain-based artist . `` If possible , I 'd like to keep it this way ? '' he wrote in an e-mail to CNN .

Apart from that statement , Jon never broke character . Instead , he offered clues to his personality .

`` I like Biscuits . I do not like Velcro , '' he wrote .

The person behind the wildly popular @BronxZoosCobra , which chronicles the `` exploits '' of a real-life snake that briefly escaped its enclosure at the New York City zoo , also declined to break character in an e-mail exchange with CNN . The account has more than 200,000 followers .

The strangest thing tweeted at the snake , its creator said , was a request for an endorsement from a high school student running for student government . `` I endorsed him , '' she wrote CNN . `` He lost . Snake bigotry at its best . ''

Online alter egos

Many novelty Twitterers with large followings are baffled by their popularity , which has led them to think about the relationship between the Internet and the real world .

`` I have a feeling , and I could be wrong , that the people that follow The Orange Cone find it to be more ` real ' than some of the drivers out on the track , '' its creator said . `` They can reach out and in most cases get a response . And the fact that no one knows who it is -- which means it could be anyone -- just adds to the mystery and the enjoyment . ''

Added the man behind KarlTheFog , `` I think people in the Bay Area like Karl because the fog was already a character in their lives . In a world that 's becoming increasingly personalized , you can surround yourself with a cast of friends on the Internet that match your exact interests and sense of humor . ''

Being Karl has challenged him to think about sports , pop culture , and politics in ridiculous ways , he said .

`` It forces me to be disciplined by sticking to a theme . Since my job is n't creative by nature , it gives me the chance to be as witty as I want . ''

Other Twitter users say that embodying nonhuman entities gives them the chance to create alter egos . `` The Cone gets to say and do the things I think we all wish we could do , '' its creator said .

The man behind @WeirdHorse , a decidedly oddball stream of musings about , well , horse life , thinks he knows why his 137,000 followers appreciate his quirky humor .

`` It 's a breath of fresh air because it 's not malicious , '' he said . `` It 's not forced out by a brand with an agenda or political motive and it 's whimsical , throw-away and easy to digest . People respond well to that sort of thing . ''

Whimsical , yes . But let 's be honest : @WeirdHorse may have one little agenda .

`` The recent demand for Weird Horse T-shirts and mugs from my site ... has been another perk , '' he said .

What 's your favorite nonhuman Twitter account ? Sound off in the comments .

Twitter users names have been changed so that they may remain anonymous .

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Some popular Twitter feeds personify animals or inanimate objects

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The London Olympics inspire nonhuman accounts such as @OlympicSeat , @LeyvasTowel

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Other accounts represent cats , horses , traffic cones and even the universe

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The average Twitter user has 126 followers , but some novelty accounts have 1 million +